Razor



Aug.' 18, 1925. G. BRowNlNG RAZOR rgina Filed Aug. 12, 1921 "Z #250@ jPatented Aug. 18, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE BROWNING, F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO LEE RAZOR MANUFACTUR-ING COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A. CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

Razon.

Application led August 12, 1921,-Serial No. 491,683. Renewed June 29,1.925.

To all whom t may concern.' v

Be it known that I, GEORGE BRowNING, a subject of the King of' GreatBritain, residing in the' city of Chicaofo, in the county of .Cook andthel State of llinois, have iny vented certain new and useful'Improvements in Razors, of which the following is a speciication,reference being had to the-accompanying drawings, vlforming a partthereof. This invention relates to a safety razor of the type in whichthe blade is arranged to oscillate in the direction of its cutting iedge, and one object of the invention is to provide mechanism forobtaining a more rapid oscillation'of the blade than has been possiblewith previous ldevices of this type. Other objects of the inventionrelatey to the 4convenience of manufacture or convenience of use, andare concerned withyarious details o f the'structure. The invention,therefore, consists in the features and elements of construction andtheir combination hereinafter described and shown in the drawings, asindicated by the claims.

In lthe drawings: v Figure 1 is a top lan View of the bladecarrying headof t e razor with a blade mounted thereon, but with the retaining guardswung clear of the blade to disclose the structure.

Figure 2 is a side elevation'of the parts shown in Figure 1, with aportion of the handle attached, and with certain parts shown in section.

Figure 3 is a transverse section taken substantially as indicated atline 3-3 on Figure 2, `but with certain parts broken away or shown insection below the` principal plane o fthe section. f

Figure 4 is a detail section taken as indicated at line 4-4 on Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a detail section taken as indicated at line 5-5 on Figure 3.

'As shown in the drawings, the blade 1, is removably carried by a frameor head which comprises a top p ate, 2, and a bottom plate, 3, securedtogether' in spaced relation vby a pair of posts, 4earrying spacersleeves, 5. At their lower ends said posts 5 are centrally bored `andriveted. over at 6,

and to improve the appearance, headed finish studs, 6", may bejaddedasshown in Figure 2. At their upper ends the heads, 7, of the posts, 4,serve as guides for controlling the oscillation of the blade, 1, byengagement in its slots, 1, as seen in Figure 1. At its forward edge,thel bottom plate, 3,

is bent obliquely upward to provide a support, 8, foi-` the bent guardmember, 9, of U-shaped cross section, whose slotted edge stands.adjacent the cutting edge of the blade, 1. The parts, 8, are bentforwardly in lugs, 10, which provide journal bearings for al crankshaft, 11, carryingthe traction wheels, 12, from which motion istransmitted for oscillating the blade, 1. A boss, 13,

formed in the bottom plate, 3, or perma- -top plate, 2; but-saidopposite edge of the blade being sharpened and beveled, its cutting edgewill stand clear of the bottom plate, and will not be dulled bycontact,v

therewith. A swinging guard member, 16, overhangs the blade when thelatter is in use, and a boss, 17, formed on the under surfaceofsaidguard, presses upon the upper side of the blade to hold it firmlyagainst the top plate, 2, as it oscillates. The guard, 16', is bentldownwardly at the rear side of the head and terminates in forwardlytrending ears, 18, pivoted upon a headed pin, 19, to provide a hingeupon which the guard member is swungv clear of the blade, 1, to permitremoval of the latter. The hinge pivot, 19, is carried by lugs, 20, bentforward from the depending extension, 21, of the top plate, 2, and forsecuring the guard,

16, in position to'retain the blade, 1, a swinging latch member, 23, is-pivoted at 24, to the rear. wall'of the guard with its upper end, 25,off-set to engage under the part, 21,` as seen in Figure 2. Said part,21, has anoblique clearance notch, 26, through which the opposite end,25, of the latch, 23, may emerge when the latch is swung to the positionshown in full lines in Figure 4. For operating the latch, a handle orfinger piece, 27, is formedat its lower end below the pivot, 24, so thatthe guard plate, 16,

may be positively locked or unlocked at v will, and swung to a positionshown by dotand-dash lines in Figure 2, when it is desired'to remove orreplace a blade.

The traction Wheels, 12, running on the surface of the skin as the razoris drawn over the face, provide the motion for oscil-V lating the,blade, 1. To improve their tractive quality, therefore, it is preferableto make the surfaces toothed or serrated, and for the best eticiency,the teeth, 12a, should resemble those of a ratchet wheel, trailing orraked back from the direction of operative rotation of the wheels, sothat the faces, 12b, which actively engage the surface of the skin,shall initially engage said surface at a sharper angle, thus'minimizingthe chance of slipii: The single throw crank shaft, 11, driven by thewheels, 12, transmits motion through a pitman, 28, to a crank pin orpivot, 29, connecting the rocker arm, 30, and the link, 31. Said rockerarm, 30, isfixedly fulcrumed on a post, 32` carried by the bottom plate,3, and the link, 31, is pivotally connected at 33, to the oscillatorarm, 34, fulcrumed on a post, 35, also supported on the bottom plate, 3.

As shown in Figure 5., the pivots. 29 and 33, may be made integral withthe link, 31, by forming the latter of round wire stock and merelybending down the ends; The rocker arm, 30, is made of sheet metal andcomprises a duplicate lower arm, 30a, joined to the upper portion, 30,by a connecting web, 30", which spaces the upper and lower arms apart sothat together they provide a fairly long bearing for the pivot, 29; andalso by this arrangement, ample space is provided for the end of thepitman, 28, on the pivot or crank pin, 29. The oscillator, 34, issimilarly formed with a spaced duplicate arm, 34a, and to insure easymovement of the rocking members the fulcrum posts, 32 and 35, are madewith base flanges, 32a and 35a, which hold the rockers away from thebottom plate, 3, as shown in Figure 5.

Preferably the pitman, 28, has a broad bearing, '36, on the crank shaft,11; but the lateral play of the pivot or crank pin, 29, is permitted bya transverse slot, 37, on the pitman. In a half turn of the crank shaft,11, the toggle composed of the rocker arm, 30, and link, 31, isshiftedvfrom the angular position shown in -Fi re 3 to a straightenedposition and to t e oppositely angular position shown in dot-and-dashoutline. This much movement causes the free end, 38, of the oscillator,34, to swing through the arcuate slot, 39, in the top plate, 2, and

, back again, while a further half turn of the crank, 11, will prod'ucea' second comv plete oscillation-in said slot, 39. The end portion, 38,of thel oscillator, 34, is bent to extend through the slot, 39, to engae a transverse slot, 40, in the blade, 1, for' riving it; thus eachrotation of the crank shaft,

11, causes two complete oscillations of the blade, 1, in the directionof its cutting edge, which combine with the advancing movement of theblade as the razor is drawn over the face, so as to produce a series ofshort draw cuts, permitting. the blade to work to the best advantage.

For convenience of assembling, each of the wheels, 12, has adiametrically extending groove or slot, 41, formed on its inner face toengage and interlock with the crank arm, 11a, of the crank shaft, 1l, asshown in Figure 3. The wheels, 12, are simply slipped on to the ends ofthe crank shaft, 11, and as the lugs, l0, of the frame are sprung orbent apart, the extreme end portions of the shaft are snapped into thebearing apertures in said lugs; the wheelsare thus retained inengagement with the crank arms, 11, by the bearing lugs, 10, and nofurther securement of the parts is required. Preferably the pitman, 28,is made of fiat stock with its broad bearing, 36, formed by merelyfolding one end around the wrist portion of the crank shaft, 11.

As indicated in Figure 1, when a doubleedged blade is used, it ispreferably formed with two slots, 40, symmetrically located with respectto both its longitudinal and transverse axes, so that if the blade beshifted end for end in changing from one cutting edge to the other,there will still be a slot in position to register with the oscillatorarm, 38. However, for distinguishing one cutting edge from the other, sothat the user, if he wishes, may use one edge continuously until itbecomes too dull, a perforation, 42, is formed in the blade nearer oneedge than the other.

I claim:- 1

1. In a razor comprising a frame and a blade mounted to reciprocatethereon, a link and means operatively connecting it to the bladecomprising a rocker arm fulcrumed on the frame with its free endupturned to engage a hole in the blade for driving it, said link beingpivotally connected at one end to the rocker arm and at the other end toa crank pin which is guided to traverse a limited arc transversely ofthe direction of blade reciprocation together with rotary traction meansjournaled onthe frame and a crank and pitman connection between saidtraction means and the crank pin. t

2. In a razor comprising a frame and a blade mounted to reciprocatethereon, a rocker member. fulcrumed on the frame for limited rotationbetween oppositely oblique positions with respect to the. direction ofblade movement and having a crank pin operatively connected to the'blade, said rocker member being formed of sheet metal and comprisingupper and lower portions of similar outline with registerin perforationsat the fulcrum axis and fr tde'erank pin,

said portions being connected together in spaced relation by a webportion; rotary traction means journaled on the frame provided with acrank and a pitman connecting said crank with the crank pin of therocker member between the upper and lower portions of the latter.

3. In a razor con'iprising a frame and a blade mounted to oscillatethereon, rotary traction means journaled on the frame provided with acrank and pitman connected thereto, a rocker arm fulcrumed at one sideof the pitman path with its end overlapping the pitman, a second rockerarm fulcrumed at the other side of the pitman path extendingtransverselyof the direction of blade movement and having its end formed for drivingengagement with the blade, and a link of round stock with its endportions bent at right ancles to its middle portion, one end of saidlink forming a pivotal connection with the first rocker and the pitman,and the other end of the link being pivotally engaged with' the secondrocker for transmitting motion thereto from the pitman.

4. In the combination defined in claim 3, fulcrum posts for said rockersupstanding from the surface of the frame and provided with spacing`iianges vadjacent said surface for holding the rockers away from 5. In arazor comprising` a frame and a blade mounted to oscllate thereon,rotary traction members journaled on the frame and providedwith a crankand pitman connection for actuating the blade, said traction memberscomprising a pair of toothed wheels, eachhaving a diametrically groovedhub, said wheels being carried loosely on opposite ends of a 'bent crankshaft adjacent supporting lugs in which the end portions of the shaftare journaled, the crank portion of sai-d shaft serving to space thewheels apart between said supporting lugs and the crank' arms of theshaft engaging the diametraly grooves of the wheel hubs for drivingengagement therewith. l

6. In a. razor comprising a frame and a blade mounted to oscillatethereon, rotary traction means vjourna]ed on said frame and providedwith driving connections for actuating the blade, said 'means includinga.

wheel or roller having a toothed or serrated surface, the teeth beingshaped to resemble those of a ratchet wheel with the body of each toothinclined away from radial direction and trailing with respect to thedirection of rotation of the wheel during a working stroke of the razor.

7. In a razor comprising a frame and a blade mounted to oscillatethereon, said frame having a plate formed to support said blade adjacentits front and rear edges, said plate having a down-turned area at itsrear edge with lugs supporting the hinge pivot olf-a bent cover plate orguard adapted to oi-'erhang the blade, and a latch arm pivoted to a.part of said cover adjacent the downwardly bent part of the frame plate,said frame plate haring a notch adapted to accommodate said latch armwhen the cover is folded toward the frame and the arm having an offsetend portion for engaging the inner side of the frame lo retain the coveradjacent the blade but releasable through said notch-when the latchlever is swung about its pivot.

8. In a razor comprising a frame which includes substantially parallelupper and lower plates with posts connecting them and spacers on saidposts, a blade mounted to oscillate on the `upper plate of said frame,with means for retaining it thereon, rotary traction` means journaled onthe frame provided with acrank and pitman, a pair of rockers eachfulcrumed on a post supported in the lower plate of the frame andextending adjacent the upper plate, a link formed of round stock withdown-turned ends pivotally engaging said rockers respectively, themiddle portion of said link being accommodated between the rockers andthe upper plate of the frame and being thus retained by the proximity ofsaid plate, the pitman being pivotally connected to one of the rockersand the other rocker having a part extending through the upper plate forengaging the blade to actuate it.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Chicago, Illinois,this 9th day of August, 1921.

GEORGE BROWNING.

